Thoughts of a Freethinker

Researchers at the Un.of Texas did a global satellite search of water reservoirs. The populations have increased and the temperatures have risen there is more demand than ever before for water. Since this was not an on the ground survey there are not precise numbers. There is a consensus among researchers the problem is worldwide.  Water is the classic example of "The Tragedy of the Commons." The Tragedy of the Commons is thought to go back to ancient times. It is widely believed prehistoric people lived in groups or clans. This was necessary for defense and maybe for a social life. Whether hunting and gathering or later domesticating animals like goats or cattle, it was only logical all animals share the same grazing ground. The human instinct has always been to take as much as possible if there is no cost. So, take more animals when hunting and own more cattle when more has the same cost as fewer. The result, of course, is hunting grounds with an inadequate supply of wild a...

The plot thickens. As anti-abortion Catholic and Protestant clergy pound their pulpits about the sin of abortion other religious views keep knocking them down. Several cases claiming that withholding abortion is a violation of one's right to practice her religion are right now in the lower courts. A new and dramatic development is that 31 Catholics, all members of the House of Representatives, spelled out why abortion rights are consistent with the Catholic faith. This link on a conservative site included condemnation of these politicians. The case that abortion is a grave sin has holes in it. Watching the self-righteous squirm is always great entertainment.   The Representatives say that social justice, conscience and religious freedom are fundamental tenets of Catholicism. Understandably, these are never mentioned by the shady "Priests for Life." The social justice of allowing poor women the same access to abortion as wealthy women is just never brought up. This is beca...

 A lay pastor of an American Baptist (most liberal of the Baptists) church who sounds like an academic reviewed data on who attends church. It confirms data covered in this blog. It is that church going is not for the single, non-college educated or "blue collar" world. It is a place for college educated people with children. The link goes into detail showing the statistics of the rise in church going among married professional people with children. The numbers come from a really big sample and the survey has been repeated with the same results. Why might this be? Let's considered hypothetical sets of people who are mid career. For a single person or couple, working lots of hours at a dull job, how attractive is a dull church service where you are expected to part with your limited money. Add to unattractiveness if the couple is not married. We know unmarried couples are very common. If at church all or nearly all other couples are married would not an unmarried couple fe...

When the outcome of elections allowed the Supreme Court to be stacked with anti-abortion Christians, the logical question was, "How was that allowed to happen?" That is, how did Republican Christians gain control of Congress and the Presidency and put a religious view of the fetus into law? I wondered myself why women I have known who vote for Republicans but believe in equal rights kept putting these dufuses in office? The implied answer was that these Republicans did not really intend to outlaw abortion. It was just a game to get low tax and anti-government Republicans into office.  Now, however, a different reality is apparent. Roe was overturned. Those clinics able to provide abortions are seeing as much as twice their former traffic. And, abortion providers who talk to young women find the old reluctance to push back in politics found in the past has been replaced. A majority of the current generation of young women, if they are Republicans, will not put up with the old ...

I'm not very good at mathematics, but I do know there is both change and a rate of change. The rate of change is, I believe, called in mathematics the first derivative. This first derivative or rate of change is especially interesting when trying to figure out what has happened in societal change and what might be expected in the future.  The headline of a NY Time article says "The fastest largest change ever in religion is underway." The article   discusses a book by three preachers who lament the drop in church attendance and membership as well as the polling data show new declines in those identifying as Christians. The three preachers offer ideas on how to slow the rate of change as well as the change itself. This follows news from the weekend that the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination, which has been losing 10% per year for a decade or more, is suddenly experiencing a more rapid rate of loss. We have to remember the SBC is a association...

Countless times in my years here blogging I've pointed to overpopulation as a looming problem. Each time its evitability is discussed anti-abortion readers pile on about how previous predictions of overpopulation never came to pass. I have asked these readers if they see no problem with doubling the current global population or tripling it?   About 20 years ago my wife and I spent a few days in the country of Bangladesh. We have friends there. The woman was my wife's graduate student at NDSU and her husband was my colleague for a year. They had a baby girl while in Fargo who is a U.S. citizen. We've followed events there ever since.  Just to briefly review, Bangladesh was part of the British Empire. It would have been part of India when India was given independence but because there were two regions heavily Muslim these were separated out and became one country, Pakistan. East Pakistan became Bangladesh after a war with West Pakistan. Bangladesh is over 90% Muslim but its...

There have been enough election cycles in enough places so Republican have measured the damage they have taken from repeal of Roe. Women and the men who support them know the Republican Party is the enemy of good opportunities in family and careers. They are test marketing some gimmick legislation they think might divert attention from their anti women narrative.  Of course they are throwing money and benefits to religious "pregnancy centers" that offer ideology against abortion and some support for new mothers.  These centers have a reputation for giving pregnant women incorrect information about their pregnancies. They are known to tell women they are too far along to get a legal abortion when later women have found out they could have had the abortion. Republicans are also throwing money at programs to help women get through pregnancies. They are tiny amounts compared to the over 100 K it takes to raise a child. If Republicans cared one twit about women they would support ...